<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
<meta charset="UTF-8">
<title>A lipstick stain on a one-way mirror by emptymasks</title>
<style type="text/css">

body { background-color: #ffffff; }
.CI {
text-align:center;
margin-top:0px;
margin-bottom:0px;
padding:0px;
}
.center   {text-align: center;}
.cover    {text-align: center;}
.full     {width: 100%; }
.quarter  {width: 25%; }
.smcap    {font-variant: small-caps;}
.u        {text-decoration: underline;}
.bold     {font-weight: bold;}
</style>
</head>
<body>
<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/26632405">A lipstick stain on a one-way mirror</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/emptymasks/pseuds/emptymasks'>emptymasks</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Le Fantôme de l'Opéra | Phantom of the Opera &amp; Related Fandoms, Le Fantôme de l'Opéra | Phantom of the Opera - Gaston Leroux</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Bi-Curiosity, First Meetings, M/M, Unresolved Romantic Tension, Unresolved Sexual Tension, chaotic bisexual erik, erik is struggling okay, from the universe of my webcomic 'Death and the Phamtom', maybe?? - Freeform, please check out it out as i work on it on tumblr and instagram, twist on chapter 2</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-09-24</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-09-24</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-06 07:47:25</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>910</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/26632405</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/emptymasks/pseuds/emptymasks</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>When the boy turned around to stare at the mirror he tilted his head as if he hadn't even noticed it had been there before. His fingers seemed to twitch as if wanting to reach out before he started taking tentative steps towards the mirror.</p><p>Christine's pretty pink lipstick twinkled against the glass.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Christine Daaé/Erik | Phantom of the Opera, Raoul de Chagny/Erik | Phantom of the Opera</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>11</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>42</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>A lipstick stain on a one-way mirror</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>"Hello?"</p><p>Erik's eyes shot open, blinking to see through where his breath had fogged up the glass of the mirror.</p><p>The origin of the voice seemed a strange mixture of confident and yet nervous. The man, Erik could tell that much, dressed in a suit, and a more expensive looking one at that, walked carefully around Christine's dressing room, peering at objects and clothing strewn about the room and then darting his eyes away as if embarrassed to have been looking in the first place.</p><p>As the man turned his head the candles bounced of his light curls and Erik had no doubt it was the same man who'd come into the room earlier after Christine had fainted. He hadn't seen his face then and still couldn't now the man peered around each corner and crevice.</p><p>Christine hardly could have time for such a nosy little thing.</p><p>"I know someone is there. I heard your voice."</p><p>Oh and nosier still it would seem. Had he pressed his ear against the door, straining to hear the words of admiration that flowed from Christine's lips for Erik? Only for Erik. Had he gasped and felt his heart shatter as she'd spoken of her feelings? Had he trembled when he'd heard Erik's dark voice in return?</p><p>The man, nay <em>boy</em>, continued to poke around the room. The confidence in his voice had been a little surprising, but Erik took pleasure in seeing it drain from his face as the boy surely wondered if he was going mad as he again and again found no sign of any other person in the room.</p><p>When the boy turned around to stare at the mirror he tilted his head as if he hadn't even noticed it had been there before. His fingers seemed to twitch as if wanting to reach out before he started taking tentative steps towards the mirror.</p><p>He couldn't be seen, that was impossible. So what had the little thing so curious? In his amusement of watching the boy squirm, Erik had almost forgotten what had transpired just before he'd entered the room.</p><p>So the boy was more observant than he'd thought.</p><p>Christine's pretty pink lipstick twinkled against the glass, frozen in place from where she had kissed the mirror and Erik had fervently pressed his forehead against the back of the glass so that if the glass could dissolve their lips would have met. She'd even stood up on her tiptoes as she'd done it, almost as if sensing where Erik's face was.</p><p>The boy's eyes were fixated on that stain of lipstick, never wavering as he drew closer and closer. As he came more into the light Erik drew back his head to have a good look at who seemed to think could rival him.</p><p>His laugh got caught his in throat.</p><p>He was taller than Erik had thought, with a strong jawline and broad shoulders. More of a man than a boy then... His hair curled around his ears, tickling them, and continued on a little way past his collar and pulled back in a neat little red bow. Erik followed where the light shown over the hair, causing it to look almost golden, down over the flush that was growing on his cheeks and over his eyelashes that were fluttering over his green eyes.</p><p>Fingertips dabbed against the mirror, as if the boy was scared it might break, before sinking back down and pressing the whole palm of the hand against it. Growing bolder, he drew himself in, hands sliding against the glass. Erik hadn't realised he'd been leaning back towards the mirror until he felt the glass against his brows, against the tip of where his nose should have continued to grow out from. It suddenly felt so much colder against his skin.</p><p>The boy's eyes fluttered closed as his lips finally made contact with the glass and Erik drew in a shaking breath as he watched how the boy's lips parted and his eyebrows curved up in the middle. He tried to hold in his breath, worried that the boy would be able to hear it. His hand started to move up towards the glass, and he jumped as his nails scratched against it.</p><p>However small the sound was, it seemed the boy had heard it. He jumped back from the mirror, eyes wide as his mouth panted open, his lips glistening with a hint of that pearl pink shine. He frantically looked around, whipping his head to either side, before staring back at the mirror. He glanced up and down at it, made a move as if he was going to try and peer around the edge, before he seemed to hear something from outside of the room.</p><p>He scurried about, picking up his coat and gloves from the back of Christine's chair, not even managing to fully get them back on before giving one last glance at the mirror before pulling the door open and almost slamming it behind him.</p><p>Erik turned his head, skin sliding against the glass, to look at where his hand was, having frozen in place at the slight stinging friction from having caught the edge of his nail. He took the knowledge that it was too close to where the boy's hand had been pressed against the other side and made to bury it somewhere deep, and wrenching himself away from the mirror, made his way back down the passage.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>so due to a surprising popular demand i am sharing this publically. it's a snippet of my upcoming poto webcomic 'death and the phantom' which is a retelling of the book with death from elisabeth the musical making an appearance.  </p><p>on tumblr the tag is 'death and the phantom' and on instagram it's #deathandthephantom and i'm @emptymasks on both those places</p></blockquote></div></div>
</body>
</html>